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Objective: This study examined how problem drinking and drug use and their related treatment received by workers varied by health insurance coverage and employment characteristics.Method: We used National Survey on Drug Use and Health data on civilian workers ages 18 years and older from the 2002 and 2003 public-use files. Multivariate logistic regressions estimated the relationship between workers' uninsured status and problem use, dependence, and treatment while controlling for worker demographics, education, income, and job characteristics.Results: Controlling for differences in worker and workplace characteristics, uninsured workers were significantly more likely than privately insured workers to be illicit drug users or heavy drinkers. Among dependent workers, the lack of insurance was associated with a reduction in treatment received for problem drinkers (odds ratio = 0.31, p = .13). By contrast, a large, positive-albeit statistically nonsignificant-association between being uninsured and receiving treatment prevailed among uninsured workers using illicit drugs. Workplace substance-use policies were associated with a significant reduction in the odds of treatment received or treatment needed among problem drinkers without insurance coverage. Employee assistance programs were not good predictors of treatment received among uninsured workers.Conclusions: Uninsured workers were more likely to be heavy drinkers or illicit drug users than were workers with health insurance. Health insurance coverage was not significantly associated with treatment received among workers reporting problem use. Uninsured workers may be unable to benefit fully from employee assistance programs' treatment and referral services, whose utility depends on adequate behavioral health coverage for workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: To present the costs of fatal and non-fatal days-away-from-work injuries in 50 construction occupations. Our results also provide indirect evidence on the cost exposure of alternative construction workers such as independent contractors, on-call or day labor, contract workers, and temporary workers. METHODS: We combine data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics on average annual incidence from 2000 to 2002 with updated per-case costs from an existing cost model for occupational injuries. The Current Population Survey provides data on the percentage of alternative construction workers. RESULTS: Construction laborers and carpenters were the two costliest occupations, with 40% of the industry's injury costs. The 10 costliest construction occupations also have a high percentage of alternative workers. CONCLUSIONS: The construction industry has both a high rate of alternative employment and high costs of work injury. Alternative workers, often lacking workers' compensation, are especially exposed to injury costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVES: This paper estimates the incidence and costs of teenage occupational injuries by severity in the United States. METHODS: Existing estimates of occupational injury costs are adapted for the teenage population. Incidence estimates are constructed using data from the US 1993 Annual Survey of Occupational Injury and Illness and the 1993 Census of Fatal Occupational Injuries combined with incidence data from the National Health Interview Survey. RESULTS: In 1993, an estimated 371,000 teenagers were injured in the workplace, accounting for 4.2% of all occupational injuries. These injuries cost $5 billion, approximately 3% of the total of injury costs involving teenagers. CONCLUSIONS: Teenagers appear to account for a larger share of the total number of occupational injuries relative to their presence in the employed workforce, but a lower share of the costs of such injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]